This invention relates generally to personal computing devices such as digital personal digital assistance (PDAs) and more particularly to personal computing devices at least part time coupled to a wide area network.
Over time, personal computing devices have evolved into a variety of subcategories. For example, the desktop computer is often used for day to day business and personal use. Laptop and notebook computers have the advantage of portability and have been increasingly used by mobile professionals. Personal digital assistance (PDAs) are sometimes referred to as palmtop computers and tend to have limited capabilities as far as computational speed, memory, etc. that is, they have evolved as special purpose devices having a limited repertoire of application programs such as calendaring, e-mail, contact information, etc.
There are two main categories of PDAs currently available. The first category of PDA is that which operates under the Palm™ operating system provided by Palm Computing, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. Examples of PDAs using the Palm OS include the Palm Palm Pilot PDA and the Visor PDA. The other category of PDAs are those that use the Window CE™ Operating System licensed by Microsoft Corporation of Redland, Wash. PDAs using the Windows CE Operating System are provided by a wide variety of vendors.
The basic functionality of PDAs is stored in their base operating system and typically provide a small suite of productivity applications including calendaring, to do lists. contact lists, etc. PDAs using the Palm OS or the Windows CE OS also enjoy the possibility of loading additional application programs for a variety of purposes. For example, there are specialized accounting programs which run on PDAs such as the Quicken Software package, a variety of games, etc. However, a major limitation of the personal digital assistant is that it can not run full-fledged application programs that are designed for personal computing platforms. For example, with a PDA running a Windows CE OS, it would not be possible because of limitations in the operating system, available memory, computing power. etc. to run Microsoft Office. In consequence, application programs which run on PDAs must be custom designed for that purpose. Furthermore, the functionality of PDA applications must be severely limited. Another form of personal computing device which is enjoying a recent resurgence in popularity is the network computer for “Thin Client” computer. This network computer is a low-powered computer which obtains part of its functionality by being connected to a network. By “low-powered” it is not necessarily meant that the computer does not consume a lot of electrical power but, rather, that the capabilities of the central processing unit (CPU) may not be all that high, and the computer may not be provided with much random access memory (RAM) and, perhaps, not even with a permanent store such as a hard disk drive. With a network PC, application programs are often run on a server connected to the network computer by a wide area network such as the internet. Network computers can also download small programs knows as “applets” or the like which can run locally in random access memory on the network computer.
The problem sometimes encountered with network computing is that the operability of the network computer may be dependent upon the operability of the network system itself. For example, if the network system or remote server is experiencing problems or a loss in efficiency, this will affect the ability of the network computer to perform its desired tasks. Also, the use of downloadable applets or the like can be problematic in that it requires a secure connection to the server over the wide area network and because the applets can only run in the temporary store of the network computer.